Railway vehicle



1940- W.VAN DER SLUYS RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed Nov. 8, 1937 s Shaets-Shet 1 [N VEN TOR W/LL/AM VAN DER SLUYci BY A T T ORNE Y5.

June 1940- VAN DER SLUYS 2,205,506

RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed Nov. 8, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 LEE- INVENTOR WILLIAM VAN DER LUY. Mi BY A TTORNE Y3,

June 25, 1940. w. VAN DER SLUYS RAILWAY VEHICLE Filed NOV. 8, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR W/LL MM VAN DER 5L- U Y5.

{I TTORNEYS.

Patented June 25,1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY VEHICLE Application November 8, 1937, Serial No. 173,293

6 Claims.

My invention relates to vehicles and it has particular relation to vehicles adapted to be drawn or propelled over rails or tracks for the purpose of transporting passengers or merchandise.,particularly the former.

Heretofore, some effort has been made, by the designers of railroads, to permit higher speeds of trains operating on tracks by banking the curves in the tracks, that is, placing the outer rail of the curve at a higher level than the inner rail. The banking of the tracks provides a certain amount of neutralizing effect, with respect to the lateral component of centrifugal force, acting on the train while passing around the curve, but, as the degree of banking necessary is dependent upon the radius of curvature of the track andthe speed of the train, it is obvious that any banked curve can provide complete neutralization of the unbalancing effect of centrifugal force for only one particular speed of any train. As trains operate over the same track at different speeds, varying from the speed of a slow freight to a fast modern passenger train, and as trains sometimes stop on the curves of the tracks it is apparent that banking of the tracks provides only a partial solution of the problem of neutralizing centrifugal force and, in addition, provides certain disadvantages when the train is stopped on the track.

By my invention I have eliminated all of the shortcomings of banked tracks and have provided means for insuring that each individual car of the train will assume the proper degree of inclination at all times, taking into account the radius of curvature of the track and the speed of compensates for any angle of banking which is improper for the speed of any particular train. It further prevents any undue discomfort on the part of the passengers, or of any injury to produce or merchandise being carried by the train due to shifting thereof, in the event of the train stopping .on a curved banked track.

One object of my invention is to improve the riding qualities of railroad cars employed in the haulage of both passengers and merchandise.

A second object of my invention consists in providing means whereby each car body will automatically adjust its angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal to compensate for improperly banked tracks, varying speeds and radius of curvature of the track so as to neutralize the effect of the lateral component of centrifugal force and of uneven tracks on the passengers or on any merchandise being carried in the car body.

each individual train. In addition, my invention Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of one complete railroad car, and a portion of the second car, embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the trucks illustrated in Fig. 1, the view being taken along the 1 'line 'II--II thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. l, the section being taken along the line III-III thereof.

Fig. 4 is a detail cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, the section being taken along the line IVIV thereof.

Fig. 5 is a detail cross-sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4, the section being taken along the line V-V thereof.

Fig. 6 is likewise a cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4, the section being taken along the line VIVI thereof.

Fig. '7 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of a railroad car, quite similar to Fig. 3, illustrating another form which my invention may assume.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional detail view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 7, the view being taken along the line VIII-VIII thereof.

Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of a railway car, somewhat similar to Fig. 3. of a third form which my invention may assume.

Fig. 10 is a detail view, quite similar to Fig. 4,- illustrating portions of the construction embodied in the structure illustrated in Fig. 9.

Figs. 11 and 12 are detail cross-sectional views of thestructure illustrated in Fig. 9, the views being taken along lines XI-Xl and XII-XII respectively, of Fig. 10.

Fig. 13 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of a railway car, quite similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a fourth form which my invention may assume.

In the drawings I have illustrated a railroad vehicle comprising a car body 20 mounted on two spaced supporting trucks 2| and 22. The trucks 2| and 22 each comprises a frame 23 consisting of a forward end portion 24 and a'rear end portion 25, which are interconnected by side members 26. The central portion of the truck frame,

including the side members, is depressed as il-- lustrated at 21. The weight of the car body is carried by the truck frame and is transmitted by it to coil springs; 28, which, in turn rest upon equalizer bars 29 which serve to transmit the load to journal bearings 30, thence to the wheels 3|, to the railroad track rails 32.

As best' illustrated in Fig. 3, the depressed central portion 2'! of the side members 26 of the frame 24 constitute a truck bolster provided at its central portion with a center bearing 36 on which is pivotally mounted a cooperating bearing member 31 constituting a portion of a body bolster 38. A center pin 39 serves to lock the two cooperative portions of the center bearing together. The truck bolster 35 is provided with the usual roller members 40 which are adapted to engage a cooperating track surface 4| mounted on the bottom surface of the body bolster 31. The roller member 4|] normally does not'engage the track 4 I or engages it very lightly, its primary purpose being to prevent excessive tilting of the body bolster with respect to the truck bolster. Pivotally mounted on the body bolster 38 adjacent each end thereof is a cam member 42 provided, on one side, with a counter weight 43. The surface of the cam member 42 is circular or cylindrical but the supporting pivot pin 44 is dis posed slightly off center for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The car body 20 is mounted upon two full elliptical leaf springs 4'1 which in turn rest upon a supporting member 48, provided on its under side with two spaced straight track members 49,-which are inclined with respect to the horizontal and with respect to each other, the inclination of the track members being opposite on opposite sides of the center line of the car body. The straight track surfaces 49 rest upon the cylindrical surface of the cam members 42,

and the weight of the car body is thus carried by the truck frame through the cams 42. The track surfaces 49 are disposed at such inclination that lines drawn normal to each of them and bisecting each of them will meet at a point 5|] in the vertical center plane of the car body 29 above the axis 9| representing the longitudinal axis through the center of gravity of the car body.

As the car passes around a curve in the railroad track a centrifugal force is exerted on the car body causing the center of gravity thereof to tend to move outwardly of the curve. When this occurs the tracks 49 roll on the cam memhere 42 in such manner as to move the lower part of the car body outwardly with respect to the curve of the tracks, and the top part inwardly with respect thereto, the movement of the car body being about the point 59 as an axis, .which movement is insured by the shape of the cam surface 42. The surfaces 49 being perfectly flat are readily machinable as are the surfaces 42 of the cam members on which these tracks roll. With this arrangement the car body will tilt in passing around the curve on a track in proportion to the radius of curvature of the track end and to the speed of the car so that no unbalancing effect due to the lateral component of the centrifugal force is noticeable to any passenger riding in the car, and liquids and the like contained in vessels disposed within the car will remain parallel with respect to the tops thereof, thus preventing spillage. As the position of the car on the cams 42 is determined by a combination of the weight thereof and the lateral component of the centrifugal force, it will be apparent that if the car should stop or pass very slowly around a banked track, the car body will automatically assume a position which is either horizontal or very nearly horizontal, in the event of slow speeds, thus compensating for the banking of the track to a degree unsuitable for slow speed or stoppage.

I have found that with the track surfaces 49 straight and the cams 42 circular and pivoted about the axis of that curve the motion of the car body, when the tracks roll on the cams 42, is not a true circular movement and does not permit movement of the car body to compensate entirely for the lateral component of the centrifugal force. However, if the members 42 are caused to move about axes disposed slightly off center with respect to the center of the circular surfaces the resulting movement of the car body will be so near to a truly circular movement as to defy detection however carefully observed.

In order to prevent slippage of the tracks 49 on the cam 42 or misalignment thereof I have provided a toothed rack member 53, as best shown in Fig. 4, mounted on the side of the track portion 49 and a toothed gear 54 secured to the side of the cam member. These racks and pinions may be secured to both sides of the body bolster 48 and the cams 42 so as to insure proper relative movement between the two surfaces at all times.

Owing to the fact that there is a tendency for the supporting member 48, and therefore the track 49, to move forwardly with respect to the cam 42 when the brakes are applied, or to move rearwardly with respect thereto when the car is being accelerated, I have provided roller memadjoining car bodies. For this reason it is necessary that all tensional and compressional forces be transmitted throughout the train independently of the car bodies. In order to provide this type of arrangement my construction provides that all forces transmitted through the trucks and running gear independently of the car body excepting under very unusual circumstances.

Mounted on the forward end 24 of the truck frame 2! is a guide member 60 which is fastened to the upper surface thereof. The guide member 60 consists of a hollow frame member having an interiorly facing arcuate face 6| an exteriorly facing arcuate surface 62 and a second interiorly facing arcuate surface 63. Disposed between the faces 6| and B2 are two roller members 64, which are slightly smaller in diameter than the distance between the faces SI and 92, and which are journaled upon the supporting members 65. The supporting member has secured thereto a drawbar 66 on which in turn is mounted a coupling member 61. The coupling member 61 is preferably of the rigid variety so that when secured to a corresponding coupling member both coupling members and draw bars constitute a rigid non-bendable unit.

The faces GI, 62 and 63 represent arcs drawn about the axis of the center bearing 39, and therefore the axis of the center pin 39, as an axis. The roller members 64 are free to roll upon the surface 6| in the event that tension is placed it will always point toward the center pin 89 so that all forces transmitted therethrough will have an effective point of application at the center of the center bearing. As a result, the drawbar 68 and the drawbar of an adjoining car to which it is connected will always lie in a 'straight'line between the center bearings of the two trucks which they connect regardless of the relative angularity of the truck frames with 'respectto their associated car bodies.

In like'manner, I have secured to the rear end of portion 25 of the front truck a similar guide member 18 having corresponding arcuate faces II and I2 between which are loosely mountedroller members I8 journaled in a supporting frame 14 on which is mounted a short drawbar I5. The drawbar I5 has mounted on its end a cup-shaped member 16 to which is secured by'b'olts 11, 'or other suitable.- means, a correspondingly shaped cap member I8 provided with a centrally disposed opening I8 within which is slidably mounted a beam 88. Secured to the end of the beam 88 is a piston member 8|, which "moves within the two cup-shaped means-18 and 11 as a cylinder, and which is retained normally. in spaced relation with the end of the cup-shaped member. 18 by means of a compression spring 82, which may be pre-loadedto any desired degree. The beam 88 extends lengthwise of the car-body and is secured through a corresponding piston member 8| to the front end of the'rear truck on which is mounted an arcuate guide member 18, the arcuate faces of which represent fragmentary cylinders drawn about the center bearing of the truck on which they are mounted as axes. The rear end of the rear truck 22 is provided with an arcuate guide member, drawbar and coupling similar to that described in connection with that of the front I a stop member 85 which is secured to and projects downwardly from the floor of the car body or the center beam thereof. Disposed intermediate the stop member 85 and the inner face 63 I of the arcuate guide member 68 is disposed a floating block 86 the inner face 81. of which is perfectly flat and vertical so as to flatly: engage a corresponding face on the stop member 85. The outer face 88 of the block 86 is arcuate in contour so as to correspond with the inner face 83 of the guide member 60. Both faces are ground and may be lubricated as desired. The lower face of the stop member 85 may be of any desired shape but is preferably arcuate, representing an are drawn about the tilting axis 58 of the car body so that regardless of how the car body tilts 'with respect to the frame in passing around curves in the track and the like the lower face of the track 85 will not engage any portion of the truck frame. 7

With this construction, when tensional forces are placed on the drawbar 66 they are transmitted thereby to the rollers and through the guide member 68 to the face 8| on which the rollers are free to move. From the guide member 60 the forces are transmitted to the truck frame 23 on which it is mounted and thence to the rear end 25 of the truck frame 23. From the rear end of the truck frame the forces are transmitted to the guide member 18 andthence to the 'rollers'l3. From the roller 13 the forces are transmitted totheshort drawbar l5 and thence to the cup members 18 and 11 to the piston 8| and thence to the beam 88. From the beam 80 the tensional forces are transmitted directly to the front endof the frame of the rear truck through a corresponding piston and cylinder mechanism 8| thence to the rear end of the truck frame to the drawbar and coupling there located to the front truck of the adjoining car. It is thus apparent that tensional forces may be transmitted through the vehicle without being imposed upon thecar body and the car is free to move upon its 7 the stop members 85 are disposed relatively close to the floating blocks 86 at each end of the car body so'that after the springs have been distorted slightly the stop member 85 at the rear end of the car wfll come into contact with the floating block there located and assume any ad ditional force there located to move the car with the moving trucks.

' When compressional forces are being transmitted through the running gear of the vehicle a corresponding transmission of forces occurs except that the roller members 64 engage the inner face 62 of the guide member 60 to transmit the compression to the truck frame, andthe roller members 13 engage the inner face I2 to transmit the compressional forces through the short drawbar 15. Through the cupmember I6 the compressional forces are transmitted to the beam 88 through the compression spring 82 and the piston 8 I. From the beam 88 it is transmitted through a compression spring located in the cylinder member 8| at the front end of the rear truck, thence through the rear truck frame to the drawbar and coupling member there located.

It is apparent from this description that como pressional forces are transmitted in the same and permits a corresponding engagement between the stop member 85 at the rear end of the car and its cooperating floating block so that any forces in excess of those properly carried by the compressional spring 82 are assumed by the car body itself; The springs 82 are so designed that all forces are carried thereby under practically all conditions with the exception of exceptionally large compressive forces so that the time during which the stops 85 are in contact with the blocks 86 is an extremely small percentage of the total operating time.

Free movement of the trucks with respect to the car body is permitted even during the period when the blocks 86 are in contact with the stop members 85 because, with the contacting surface ground and well lubricated, rotation of the trucks about their center bearings is permitted by corresponding movement between the face 83 of the guide member 60 and the face 88 of the block 86, and vertical or tilting movement of the car body about its tilting axis is permitted by relative movement between the fiat vertical face 81 of the block 86 and the cooperating flat face of the stop member 85. In this connection it should be noted that I desire, to have the drawbar 66 of such length as to positively prevent contact of the ends of adjacent car bodies as I have found that all forces transmitted between car bodies of this nature are of a particularly disturbing type. Also, the ordinary friction gear now used in drawbars may be mounted in the drawbars 66' if so desired but constitute no part of this invention.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8' the car body 20 rests upon the car body springs 41 which in turn rest upon a supporting member 90. The supporting member 90 is provided at its lower face with two arcuate tracks 9| which are angularly related, in longitudinal vertical crosssection, as best illustrated in Fig. 8. Viewed longitudinally of the car these tracks 9| represent a surface of revolution drawn about the axis 50, which is the tilting axisof the car body, and which is located above the axis 5| representing the center of gravity of the car body. The tracks 9| rest upon rolle: members 92 provided with shafts 93 which are journalled in supporting arms 94 mounted on a body bolster 95, which, in turn,

is provided with a center bearing resting upon the truck bolster 35 as described in connection with Fig'. 3. By reason of the angularity of the two track surfaces 9| any tendency for the body to move longitudinally with respect to the truck frames necessitates raising of the weight .of the body up the inclines represented by the faces of the rollers 92 and thus prevents such movement. This eliminates the necessity for supporting arms 51 such as are illustrated in Fig. 4.

The surfaces of the roller members 92 are disposed at an angle to the axes 93 inorder to conform with and move throughout all points at the same peripheral speed as do the various contacting portions of the track surface 9|. The supporting pins 93 are inclined at such angle that their axes will intersect the axis 50 so that tilting of the car body about the axis 50 is permitted without any slippage between the surface 90 and the face of the rollers 92.

In order to prevent any misalignment of these surfaces an arcuate rack 96 is secured to the sides of the supporting member 90 and toothed gears 91 are mounted on each of the rollers 92 to cooperate with the aforementioned rack. Theroller members 92 may be complete annuli or they may be segmental as shown, this being determined by the length of the tracks 9| in comparison with the radius of the roller members 92.

'I have found that railroadcars, intilting to the desired angle at high speeds and around sharp curves, rarely tilt beyond six degrees from the vertical and never tilt beyond eight degrees from the vertical on any type of tracks as employed at present. I have found it desirable to employ fairly large roller members owing to the rather high .be used to contact the track and, as a result,

complete annuli areunnecessary. If smaller rollers were employed complete annuli would be desirable.

With this construction, as the car passes around a curve in the railroad tracks the centrifugal force acting upon the center of gravity 5l'causes a movement of the lower part of the car body outwardly of the curve about the point 50 as an axis, which is determined by the degree of curvature of the arcuate tracks 9|. When this occurs the tracks roll upon the roller members until the body has reached a state of equilibrium under which conditions the passengers will not be conscious of any unbalancing effect caused by the train passing around the curve. In like manner, if the car stops on a banked track the tracks will move slowly toward a position wherein the car body is vertical, the movement being very slow as the car decreases in speed until it has reached a position where the car body is vertical when the train is stopped. This is due to the fact that the unbalancing effect of the centrifugal force gradually decreases and the point 5| will move to a position directly beneath the axis 50 at all times when no centrifugal force is acting on the car body.

In the structure illustrated in Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, the car body 20 is mounted on springs 4! which in turn rest directly on a body bolster I00, the bolster I being provided with a center bearing |0| by means of which it rests upon and is pivotally supported upon a truck bolster 02. The truck bolster I02 is provided with straight inclined track surfaces I03 which rest upon cams I04 similar to the straight track surfaces and cams described in connection with Fig. 3. The cams I04 are pivotally mounted upon the truck frame by means of pivot pins I05 and excessive tilting of the car bolster I00 with respect to the body bolster I02 is prevented by roller members I09 of the type generally employed for this purpose. Movement of the truck bolster I02 longitudinally of the truck frame I0! is prevented by roller members I08 journalled to the truck frame asdescribed in connection with Fig. 6 which rollers lightly engage the truck bolster I02 at all times, as best illustrated in Fig. 11. The tracks I03 are provided with toothed racks I09, as best shown in Fig. 10, and the cam surface I04, which is cylindrical in contour but provided with an off 'center supporting pin or axis, is provided with a which in turn is pivotally mounted ,upon a truck bolster I02, as described in connection with Fig.

9. The truck bolster I02 is provided on its lower surface with angularly inclined track members 5 which in turn rest upon two sets of angularly inclined roller members I IS, the track members 5 and H6 being similar to the members 9| and 92, respectively, as described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8. In thisinstance the axis about which the. arcs of the surfaces I I5 are drawn is the same axis 50 about which it is desired to have the body tilted to counteract the effect of the lateral component ofthe centrifue gal force acting on the car in passing around curves in the track. The track H and the roller H6 may be provided with the usual rack and gear mechanism associated therewith as described in connection with other figures of the application to prevent other than pure rotative will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but that various modifications and changes may be effected therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a railway vehicle, two spaced trucks each provided with a truck frame and a truck bolster supported on said frame, a body bolster pivotally mounted on said truck bolster, cam members rotatably journaled on said body bolster, and a' car body provided with longitudinally spaced transversely extending supporting members adapted to support the weight of the car body, said supporting members being provided with a straight downwardly facing track: portion on each side of the centerline of said car body, said straight track portions being adapted to rest-and from a true are about a predetermined point within said car body.

2. In a railway vehicle, two spaced trucks each provided with a truck frame and a truck bolster supported on said frame, a body bolster pivotally mounted on said truck bolster, circular cam members having off-center axes rotatably journaled on said body bolster, and a car body provided with longitudinally spaced transversely extending supporting members adapted to support the weight of the car body, said supporting members being provided with straight inclined downwardly facing track portions, said track portions being oppositely inclined on opposite sides of the centerline of said car body and said inclined portions being adapted to rest on said cams and to roll thereon under the influence of centrifugal force acting on said car body, said cam members having an effective surface contour adapted to compensate for the departure of said straight track portions from a true arc about a predemounted on said truck bolster, a set of two angularly related roller members rotatably journaled on each end of said body bolster, a car body provided with longitudinally spaced transversely extending supporting members adapted to resiliently support the weight of the car body, said supporting members being provided with two angularly disposed trackportions adapted to rest and move upon said angularly related roller members, said truck portions representing surfaces of revolution drawn about an axis extending longitudinally of the car body above the center of gravity thereof.

4. In a railway vehicle, two spaced trucks each provided with a truck frame, circular cam members having ofi center axes rotatably journaled on said frame, a car bod; provided with two longitudinally spaced body bolsters, a truck bolster pivotally associated with each of said body bolsters and adapted to support the weight thereof, said truck bolsters being provided with a straight downwardly .facing track portion on each side of the center line of said car body, said straight track portions being adapted to rest and-roll on said cam members under the influence of centrifugal force acting on said car body.

5. In a railway vehicle, two spaced trucks each provided with a truck frame, circular cam members having off center axes rotatably journaled on said frame, a car body provided with two longitudinally spaced body bolsters, a truck bolster pivotally associated with each of said body bolsters and adapted to support the weight thereof, said truck bolsters being provided with a straight downwardly facing track portion on each side of the center line of said car body, said straight track portions being adapted to rest and roll on said cam members under the influence of centrifugal force acting on said carbody, and means for preventing movement of said cam or track member without corresponding movement of the associated member.

6. In a railway vehicle; two trucks spaced from each other longitudinally of the vehicle, each of said trucks comprising a frame and railengaging wheels carried thereby; a vehicle body; a pair of supports spaced from each other longitudinally of the vehicle and respectively associated with said trucks for transmission of body loadthereto; spring means intermediate said body and supports; means mounting said supports on said truck. frames respectively such that said body, spring means, and supports are capable of lateral swinging movement as a unit relative to said truck frames approximately about an axis extending longitudinally of the vehicle; means accommodating pivoting of each of said truck frames about a vertical axis relative to the support associated therewith; vehicle draft means operably connected to said truck frames; and draft-transmitting means connecting said trucks together; said draft means and drafttransmitting means being adapted to transmit the vehicle draft forces from one end of the vehicle to the other through said truck frames independently of said body.

'WILLIAM VAN DER SLUYS. 

